Beverage cooling apparatus



Jan. 11,1944. J. WYLLlE, JR 2,339,229

BEVERAGE COOLING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 2, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Arm/Pun Mme/woe.-

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J.WYLLIE, JR'

BEVERAGE COOLING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 2, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Arm/war Patented Jan. 11, 1944 cavemen coonnwcr APPARATUS John Wyllie, Jr., Detroit, Mich, assignor to Temprite Products Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application August 2, 1940, Serial lilo. 349,455 Claims. (Cl. 257-216) This invention relates to apparatus for cooling potable liquids on draft includin g'beer and other carbonated beverages and water.

The object of the invention is to provide cooling apparatus of the kind mentioned which 15 compact'in form, eiiicient in operation and so constructed as to facilitate both its manufacture and its installation for use.

With the above object in view, the invention consists in various features of construction and combinations of parts and devices as hereinafter explained in connection with the accompanying drawings of a preferred embodiment thereof and defined in the appended claims.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a view partly in side elevation and partly in vertical section of my improved cooling apparatus.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the cooling apparatus shown in Fig. 1.

of the coil being preferably soldered to the tank side wall as indicated in the lower part of Fig. 1 and in Fig. 2. The refrigerant expansion conduit further comprises an inlet section 26 which extends downward through the tank flange 22 and along the side of the tank to the bottom thereofwhere it joins the inlet end of the coil 26 (Fig. 1). The conduit section 26' parallels the carbonated liquid conduit 25 and has heatconducting contact therewith, the two tubes being preferably soldered together as indicated in Fig. 2 and both tubes (especially the tube 25) preferably have heat-conducting contact with at least some of the refrigerant coils. The inlet end of the refrigerant conduit 26 is connectedto a thermostatic expansion valve 21 which in Referring in detail to the construction illustrated, a liquid cooling device is designated as an entirety by the numeral 2|.

Thecooler 2! is suitably constructed for mean the operation of my improvedmethod of d1spensing and cooling carbonated beverages disclosed in my earlier application Serial No. 316,190 filed January 29, 1940. The cooler comprises a metal tank 22 having a detachable cover plate 22 removably secured by thumb nuts 23 to a heavy top flange 22 brazed or otherwise suitably nnected to the side wall of the tank at its top. 2 suitable gasket 22 is interposed between the said "cover and flange to make the tank gas tank is fittted with a short inlet conduit 24 for carbonated liquid, said conduit having a connection fitting 24 and said conduit being arranged to discharge through the side wall of the tank 22 near the top thereof as shown in Fig. 4. A carbonated liquid discharge conduit 25 has its inlet end connected with the bottom of the ank as shown in Fig. 4. This conduit 25 extends from the lowerv end of the tank upward along the side thereof and through an aperture in a radial extension of the flange 22 to a point above the tank where it is provided with a connection fitting 25 g The tank is cooled by a refrigerant expansion conduit which is designated as an entirety by the numeral 26 and which comprises a C01] 26 which surrounds tank 22 in heat-conducting con- .act with the metal side wall thereof, the turns turn is connected with a'liquid refrigerant supply conduit 28 through which the liquid refrigerant may be conducted from suitable refrigerant compressing and condensing apparatus (not shown) of any suitable form. The upper discharge end of the refrigerant coil 26 leads through an elbow fitting 29 to a suction pressure control valve 39, the discharge of which is connected to a conduit (not shown) adapted to conduct the gasifled refrigerant to the suction sid of the compressor (not shown) of the system. 32 is a small bore conduit leading from the diaphragm chamber of the expansion valve 21 through the elbow 29 to a thermostatic bulb (not shown) within the refrigerant conduit, the temperature of the refrigerant conduit thus serving to control the operation of the expansion valve 21 which admits liquid refrigerant into the expansion conduit of the cooler.

To provide for the cooling of sweet water as well as carbonated beverage, the cooler is pro vided with a water conduit which is designated as an entirety by the numeral 33 and comprises a coil 33 which is wound around the refrigerant coil 26 in heat-conducting contact therewith. The water conduit further comprises an inlet section 33 which has at its upper end a connection fitting 33 and which extends downward through an aperture in a radial extension of the tank flange 22 to join the bottom turn of the coil 33. The water conduit similarly has a discharge section 33 which leads from the upper turn of coil 33 upward through an aperture in a radial extension of the tank flange 22 and is provided at its upper end with a connection fitting 33', While the conduit sections 25 and 26 preferably have heat-conducting contact with at least some of the turns of the refrigerant coil 26' they preferably do not have such contact with the water coil 33% Near its upper end the cooler tank is provided with a gas discharge duct 34 which has its inlet end opening into the side wall of the tank near the top thereof (Fig. 1) and extends upward through a radial extension of the tank flange 22 The cooler tank 22 and the various fluid conduit sections wound around it or extending 1ongitudinally of it are enclosed in a heat-insulating wall comprising insulating materials 35, 36, 31 and 38 of suitable character and a retaining and protecting metal shell 39.

The cooling means thus constitutes a unitary device with all of its conduit connections arranged at the top thereof so that the insulation of the entire cooling device is easily effected and said device can easily and conveniently be connected into the dispensing system. The gas discharge conduit 34 of the cooler is extended from said cooler to a manual discharge valve.

During the dispensing of beverage, if carbon dioxide gas should accumulate to an undesirable extent in the upper part of the cooler tank, such excess gas can be vented to the atmosphere by opening of a suitable control valve with which discharge duct 34 may be provided, as will be readily understood. It is, of course, desirable that the beverage discharged from the cooler 2| have a substantially uniform and suitably low temperature. This result is facilitated in the case of the cooler illustrated by the disclosed arrangement of the beverage discharge conduit 25 in relation to the other parts of the cooling apparatus. Thus, in contrast with prior forms oftank coolers in which the discharge conduit is arranged within the tank with its open lower end disposed near the'bottom of the tank so that the cool liquid drawn from the lower part of the tank had to pass through a portion of the conduit surrounded by the warmer liquid in the upper part of the tank, the present construction has the discharge conduit disposed entirely outside the tank so that it is not affected by the warm incoming beverage in the tank and, in addition, is maintained in heat-conducting contact with the refrigerant expansion conduit until it leaves the cooling unit near the top thereof, Then, by providing a suitably heat insulated connecting conduit between the discharge conduit 25 and the draft faucet,' the beverage is delivered to the faucet at a highly uniform and suitably low temperature.

The apparatus shown in the drawings and described above embodies my improvements in preferred form but it will be understood that the form and construction of the apparatus employed can be modified in various respects withoutdeparting from the invention as defined in the appended claims.

WhatI claim is:

1. In apparatus for cooling liquids on draft. the combination of a closed metal-walled tank for liquid to be cooled having an inlet for carbonated liquid near its top and an outlet for carbonated liquid at its bottom; a refrigerant expansion conduit comprising a coil surrounding the tank and in heat-conducting contact with the wall thereof; and a carbonated liquid discharge conduit connected at its receiving end to the said tank outlet and extending upward from the bottom to the top of the tank in heatconducting contact with the refrigerant conduit.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the refrigerant conduit, in addition to the coil surrounding the tank, comprises an upright section with which the carbonated liquid discharge conduit is in heat-conducting contact.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the refrigerant conduit comprises an upright section and in which the carbonated beverage discharge conduit is in heat-conducting contact with the said upright section and with at least a portion of the coil section of the refrigerant conduit.

4. In apparatus for cooling liquids on draft, the combination of a closed metal-walled tank for liquid to be cooled having an inlet for carbonated liquid near its top and an outlet for carbonated liquid at its bottom; a refrigerant expansion conduit comprising a coil surrounding the tank and in heat-conducting contact with the wall thereof; a water cooling coil surrounding the said refrigerant coil and in heat-conducting contact therewith, and a carbonated liquid discharge conduit connected to the tank outlet for such liquid, said conduit having heatconducting contact with at least a portion of the refrigerant coil but being out of contact with the water cooling coil.

5. In apparatus for cooling liquids on draft,

the combination of a closed metal-walled tank for liquid to be cooled having an inlet for carbonated liquid near its top and an outlet for carbonated liquid at its bottom; a refrigerant expansion conduit having an upright inlet section extending from the top part of the tank to the lower part thereof and a coil surrounding the tank in heat-conducting contact with the wall thereof and with the lower end of said coil connected to the lower end of the upright conduit section; a water cooling coil surrounding the refrigerant coil and in heat-conducting contact therewith; and a carbonated liquid discharge conduit connected at its receiving end to said tank outlet and extending upward from' the bottom to the top of the tank in heat-conducting contact with the upright portion of the refrigerant conduit.

JOHN WYLLIE, JR. 

